Count on me
by Inkkerfuffle
Summary: After the events of the Formal dance in "months later", Marinette and Alya finally catch up.


Notes:

Just a little drabble of a Marinette & Alya interaction; I'm just a sucker for friendships. That is all.

* * *

 **Count on me**

It was a lovely day in Paris, and Marinette and Alya had a date. Their destination today; _Parc des Buttes-Chaumont_. The two girls had not spend as much time together as they usually did, and Marinette was determined on solving that. They had taken bikes, loading the basket with the makings of a picnic, courtesy of Marinette's parents who had loaded up the girls with a considerable amount of sweets from their shop.

The ride towards the park had been harsher than they expected, so when they reached their destination they dropped their bikes on the grass and they settled down, placing a small blanket underneath them. "That hill was… rough" Alya said, stretching her legs as she opened her bottle of water and took a big swig.

"But it's really pretty here though!" Marinette said, looking around the beautiful park.

"So, what did your parents pack for today?"

 _Right_. Her dad had packed a substantial amount of sweets for today. _Nourishment_ , he'd said, since they were going on a bike ride, but it was far more than what they'd probably eat. Marinette took out some tupperware containers, briefly glancing at them as she placed them on the blanket "We've got some _Gougère_ , _Biscuit rose de Reims_ , some _madeleines_ , aaand" she took a larger container before adding "and a ridiculous amount of Macarons. You should probably take some home"

"Deal" Alya said, she was _not_ going to say no to Marinette's parents delicious treats, besides, her parents loved them. The girl glanced at her reflection on her phone screen and pulled the camera up "alright. Now that I don't look like I almost _keeled_ over from the ride here… picture time" The two girls posed, smiling at their reflection on the phone's screen, before adding some silly faces for good measure.

"Where is that one going?" Marinette asked as she looked through the remaining things inside the bag. Ooh, there were two bottles of juice there. Her parents thought of _everything_.

"Instagram." The other girl said, as she tapped through the filters to pick the most appropriate one. "There. Approved?" She asked, holding the phone for Marinette's approval.

"Mhmm!" Marinette nodded, chewing a blue macaron

Soon enough, the picture was successfully posted and the girls leaned back against the fallen tree. "Why have we never come here before?" Alya asked, the place was "It's _really_ pretty!" the girl paused before adding "Lots of tourists though" Well, not so many… Most of them preferred to stay within the typical sights.

"We almost died during the uphill part of the ride." Marinette stated. Well, not _her_ ; she had a good enough endurance, but she couldn't really explain it to Alya, so she'd faked it a little; all part of keeping her secret identity hidden. "So that might be a reason." But yes, she had to agree, it was pretty…,

"Oh!" Alya said "Did I tell you that my mom said she's giving me a camera for Christmas? Like, a real, camera?"

"You didn't!" Marinette bit into a macaron as she waited for more details.

"So. With the Ladyblog and everything, I _do_ take a lot of pictures, you know. And while my cellphone has a good camera and all, maybe it's good to learn how to work a real camera" The girl grinned "Besides, the photos I can get for the ladyblog will be _amazing"_

 _Yikes_. This was a new development that she'd discuss with Adrien soon. Alya plus an HD camera with the possibility of Zoom lenses… they might need to plan accordingly.

"We should come here when I get it. So I can begin to learn how to use it"

Well, the idea sounded nice. Bringing some hot chocolate, or coffee along… Yes. She could definitely deal with that "But with winter and all, we should probably not take the bikes" They were quite simple bikes… probably not good when confronted with the possibility of icy road. "That hill and ice… we would _literally_ die"

Alya nodded, before directing her attention to her phone, which had began buzzing, the familiar chiming sound of notifications interrupting their conversation "Well, that was predictable." she said, browsing quickly through the many notifications that popped up on her phone screen.

"What is?"

"Loverboy" Alya said, and showed the phone where Adrien had almost immediately liked and commented on the picture.

Marinette blushed at the term " _Stooop_ " she said, "that just makes it sound _weird"_

"I'm just calling it like I saw it" Alya said, laughing before turning out the phone's screen just as a new notification appeared, this time by Nino.

"Oooh." Marinette said, "Any news there?" Mirthful brown eyes turned in her direction and Marinette had to admit, _now_ she was _curious._ "What did I miss?"

"Okay" Alya began, putting down the pastry she was eating "So, while we were evacuated and you were _sucking face_ with Adrien…" she gave an amused look at the embarrassed look on Marinette's face "don't you even try to deny it, I _saw_ the proof" Alya motioned around her neck, thoroughly enjoying the blush on her friend's face. "Oh, come on, I'm just teasing you!" she said, sobering up before continuing " _Anyway._ While the rest of us evacuated, _some of us_ more willingly than others" Nino had pretty much _dragged_ her away; and Alya had possibly missed great footage from when Ladybug and Chat Noir had arrived. Such a great opportunity… _missed._

"Staying in the ballroom was not a good idea" Marinette interrupted "Remember the _Louvre?_ You need to stop putting yourself in danger! _"_

"All in the name of journalism my friend _. Journalism."_

Marinette rolled her eyes. "You're totally stalling, you know" the dark haired girl said, taking a sip of her bottle. "You were saying before?"

"Ah yes. Nino?" Alya said waiting for Marinette to nod before continuing" "We're a _thing_ now."

Marinette's reaction was _everything_ Alya could have hoped for. The blue eyed girl, who was taking a sip from her bottle, promptly choked, spitting all over herself as she coughed; desperatedly trying to breathe normally again. That had _definitely_ gone the wrong way.

The look on Alya's face was pure satisfaction. "There, there" she patted her friend's back as she finally got her breathing under control.

"Whaaat? You never told me?!"

" _Sucks_ , don't it?" Alya said, leaning back against the tree and taking a bite out of a _madeleine;_ looking as nonchalant as she was able to. Truth be told, she was happy for her friend, she really was… it just _hurt_ a little to find out that her best friend had kept a secret this big from her. Honestly, Adrien had been her crush for ages… Alya hoped to have at least learned something before everyone else.

Marinette deflated immediately, clearing her throat as she spoke up "Alya…"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Marinette felt the guilt, a heavy weight on her shoulders. There were far too many secrets clouding her relationship with her best friend, the first and most important one being their work as the heroes of Paris, and to tell the truth, all these secrets had begun taking a toll on her. But the biggest one… she still couldnt' share. She frowned, looking at the surroundings before chancing a look at her best friend. "I'm not really sure" she confessed. "I guess we just wanted to see… if it _worked_ or something"

"Well, I can understand that from the rest of the school, you know" Alya said, frowning a little "But not _me_. I mean I can _understand_ Nino not knowing, because men are stupid when it comes to feelings and _sharing them_ "

"I don't know… it wasn't supposed to be hidden that long." she began "But it was just _fun_ , you know?"

"Kinky"

Marinette blushed furiously. "Stop!" she covered her face, peeking at her friend between her fingers "Not like that!" Not _entirely_ like that, at least.

"I know, I know!" Alya said, finally laughing "Still, crappy move" she said, poking her friend on the arm with her water bottle. Marinette still looked somewhat remorseful, and Alya rolled her eyes, ready to lighten up the mood. She had said her piece and she felt so much better now. "Oh you precious little sunflower" Alya said, ruffling her best friend's hair. "I'm not angry at you… _now._ I was then, but I think the fifty euro kind of soured me a little."

The dark haired girl swatted at her friend, before pulling the elastic band from her pony tails to get them fixed. "Just how much money have you made off of us?"

"We're pretty much even by now" Alya answered "Besides, It was fair payback for all the sneaking around. Don't think we didn't notice all that sneaking around at school. We're your friends. we _notice things_ "

Granted, at least 80% _60%_ of that sneaking around was to transform and go defeat an akuma somewhere in the city, but that was beside the point. "It's not _that_ much… is it?"

Alya laughed "It's ok. I don't think many people notice it" Or if they did, they didn't comment "You two are _cute_ , so you have that going on for you. Although, I have to thank you, Chloe's was _seething_ with rage at the formal. That was _amazing_ to see."

Marinette snorted "That's _so_ mean"

"She _is_ mean" Alya pointed out. "But enough of that, I'm happy for you, you know… All that time pining over him… Told you it would happen. I mean, Adrien _is_ clueless, but no one can stay clueless _this long_ "

The dark haired girl snorted, shaking her head. "He said he was kind of suspicious though"

"Well, you weren't very subtle when we 'ran into him'" Alya said.

Marinette covered her face, slightly embarrased at the memory. "Oh _God_ , don't remind me. I don't know how he ever looked at me with how _weird_ I was"

"Hey! Sure, he's a model and all that. But he's lucky as hell!" Alya said "You, my friend, are awesome. And don't forget that" her demeanor turned slightly serious "seriously. You might get some hate from some fangirls or something; but _don't forget that"_

A bashful smile took over Marinette's face, and she linked her arm with her best friend "Thank you" She was really happy with Adrien, but having the support of your best friend of years was… always a good thing to have. "Enough of me though," she said "What about Nino?"

"It's been good, you know" Alya said, "It's just so _easy._ Which is awesome. _"_ For a second she'd thought that she couldn't really like the other boy if things weren't completely convoluted and confusing… but it wasn't the case. It was like their friendship had simply evolved into a new plane of existance; which was pretty cool, if she had to tell the truth. Alya was actually glad that Marinette and Adrien had left to make out during the formal, it'd given Nino a chance to talk and well… _develop_. "What I was saying before; was that when everyone was evacuated, and you guys didn't come out" Alya raised an eyebrow at her friend who gave an embarrassed shrug "Anyway, we looked for you two everywhere, but you weren't… so we figured you got _sidetracked._ We just started talking about everything, and I asked him why he didn't ask me to go with him to the formal"

"What did he say?"

"He said he thought I would say no, which is absolutely stupid because we've all been going together to all school events since the dawn _of time_." Alya answered, "But he said that he didn't want to go as a group… well, it took him a _while_ "

"He was nervous?"

"Totally, It was kind of cute, you know" Alya said, a smile taking over her face. "I told him not to be stupid and that I wouldn't have said no."

Marinette snorted. "Subtle"

"A direct approach has always worked better for me" Alya said, looking quite pleased with herself "Anyway, he asked me to the movies that week, and we went… made out a little and… don't give me that look, you had a _hickey when we found you_."

"… fine." Marinette stopped her argument right there… That mark had taken quite a bit of concealer to cover. And she was pretty sure that she had not fooled her mom.

"Anyway, I like his face and he likes my face. We're dating" Alya finished.

"Are you happy?"

"Very."

"Good." Marinette said, "we both have boyfriends now… how did that happen?"

"We're babes. That's how" Alya laughed at her friend's snort "But seriously, no more secrets like _that_ …got it? I mean… I don't want to find out you two… _eloped_ or something from other people, you know?"

Marinette made a strangled noise at the mention of eloping. "I promise you'll be the first to know if we elope" she deadpanned. It was hard, considering that Adrien and her kept a rather big secret from _everyone they knew,_ but she figured that shecould definitely tell her what was going on with just Marinette and Adrien.

"Yeah, I mean.. I know that there are _some things_ that you should both keep to yourselves, and that's normal" Alya began, before pausing, a thoughtful look on her face; "Speaking of, Do we need to have the birds and the bee's conversation?" A macaron straight to the face was all the answer Alya needed "I'm _kidding!"_ She laughed at her friend "But anyway, The point of all this" Alya said, "Is that no matter _what_ , Models and amateur DJs aside, _you're_ my person. No boy will ever change that, ok?"

The dark haired girl leaned her head on her friends shoulder. "You're my person too. And that won't ever happen."

"And seriously, say the word. The moment he doesn't treat you how you deserve I will _murder his face_."

Marinette snorted, "Noted. And right back at you"

"Seriously. Ovaries before brovaries" Alya said, her hand up to initiate their own handshake.

"You are _obssesed_ with that show." Marinette said, but met her friend halfway. Secret handshakes were _sacred_. "But true."

"I'm going to make you watch it even if it's the _last thing_ I do"


End file.
